Weight of the World
by AgreedAmpersand
Summary: Someone new arrives and makes quite the entrance. Raven can't help but be intrigued.
1. Chapter 1

Raven jolted awake, and she felt a hard pounding at the back of her skull that made her grimace as she tried to shake her head to get rid of the grogginess. She tried to remember what had happened when it came to her suddenly. Her head popped up quickly, making her vision swim, but she tried to focus. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw all the other members of the team together, waking from various states of unconsciousness. Since Raven had woken first, she was the first on her feet and helping the others up. She strode to Cyborg and offered a hand up.

"Is everyone alright?" Multiple groans and sighs answered her, letting her know that they were all hurt, but nothing too serious. Raven looked over at Starfire as the alien princess rubbed her arms.

"Does anyone remember what happened?" the Tamaranian asked.

"Yeah" replied Cyborg,"I do. We got ambushed by Adonis in the old paper mill, and he was waaaaay more powerful than normal. I don't know how he managed to upgrade like that"

"Gizmo helped him" stated Raven "I sensed his presence just before Adonis knocked us all out with whatever that green light was."

Nightwing stood with his hands on his hips, looking down while he thought. "It almost looked like that prototype you came up with a year or so ago, Cy. Remember? The Neural Subduing Pulse?"

Cyborg snapped his metal fingers and cursed under his breath.

"The little freak must have gotten his hands on the schematic when he took control of my robotics a few months ago!"

Raven glanced at Cyborg and asked what the rest of them were thinking.

"I can infer that this device was intended to render us unconscious?"

"Yeah," nodded Cyborg, "it broadcasts an Alpha wave pulse that temporarily shuts down the conscious part of the brain. No damage is done, but it leaves you with a hell of headache, as we can all see."

He looked over to Nightwing "So what's the plan, boss-man?"

"Titans, I'll be honest with you, this doesn't look good. Whatever Adonis and Gizmo have planned probably has something to do with this cage." Grimaced Nightwing as they all looked around their confinement. It appeared to be a rather large cage made of metal bars about 8 inches apart. Now while that normally wouldn't be a problem for the Titan's to get out of, there were undoubtedly other defensive measures in place.

Starfire stated "It might also have to do with that large menacing device suspended over there" she gestured towards the far end of the room. Raven saw Cyborg look in that direction and realized his robotic eye had begun to glow green, and she realized he had activated his night-vision.

"That looks like...no, it can't be.." she heard him mutter to himself.

"What is it, Cyborg?" asked Nightwing.

"If I'm right, and I really hope I'm not, that looks like an enlarged weapon emplacement, based on my shock cannon technology. But it looks as though it's been seriously modified. It's got a massive power supply, which would drive the destructive force of the beam way up, but there, at the tip! That looks like an incredibly refined focusing laser modulator."

Raven heard Beast Boy clear his throat and she turned to look at him as he spoke.

"Uhhh...Cy? Could you repeat that in English?"

The half metal man sighed and looked at Beast Boy and said, "What that means, is that THAT device," he pointed at the beam assemblage, "would essentially be able to cut through anything with barely any effort. I don't think even your power would be able to stop it, Raven." They all grew much more grim with that discovery as they each thought of what the evil pair had planned for them.

'Well,' thought Raven 'I should just be able to bend the bars apart and we can walk out.' So she tried to grab the bars with her obsidian energy. But her powers just seemed to slide right off the bars like nothing had touched them. 'Dammit...'"It would appear that I cannot bend these bars apart. They are made of solid iron. My power can't touch them." She said with resignation.

Raven heard Beast Boy chuckle and turned to look at him.

"Well, it's simple then! Watch this!" And with that, he proceeded to morph into a mouse and run for the empty gap between the bars, only to end up back in the middle of the cage, smoking and groaning in pain. Raven rushed over to Beast Boy's side to see if she could heal him, but he seemed to be just slightly singed.

"Ah ah ah" Raven heard a high pitched voice titter, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Snotball." She looked up from her kneeling position to see Gizmo come crawling down from the ceiling on that creepy spider-like apparatus he was so fond of. "That there is a highly volatile plasmic containment field. You shouldn't touch it, else you get, well, you've seen what it can do." Raven helped Beast Boy back onto his feet as he gave Gizmo the finger, then they heard rhythmic thuds coming from behind the tiny villain. It was Adonis. And he was in a massive mech, bigger than they had seen him build before, and looked more advanced in every way.

"Well, look at the Twerp-ans now. Not so high and mighty when we got you trapped, are you?" Adonis cackled.

"Ok" Nightwing said,"you got us here, you trapped us, now what?"

"You really think we would reveal to you our plan now that we have you where we want you?" Raven rolled her eyes at that.

"Of course you would, you titanic imbecile. It's what you do every time you have us cornered." She could not have poured more disgust into her voice.

"Ooh, Gizmo, I think she likes me. I think I might have to open that cage for a second so I can pull her out and get to know her better. Might have to take awhile doing it too, to make sure she really enjoys the experience" Adonis rasped as he winked at Raven.

Raven pulled back in revulsion and looked around the at the other Titans. They were each preparing in their own way. She saw Starfire's hands begin to glow as she readied bolts of green fire, and she watched as Nightwing prepared several wingdings. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye as Beast Boy shifted into a green wolf, prepared to pounce, and she noticed Cyborg's arm reconfigure into his shock cannon. She cleared her mind and readied for the fight that would begin momentarily. All they could do now was wait for him to open the cage. As Adonis thudded toward the cage to open it, Raven hear the sound of a window shattering, making the Mech-Man jump and take several steps back, turning away from the cage, spinning to look at Gizmo as his eyes narrowed.


	2. Chapter 2

Gizmo whirled around, frantically searching for the source of the noise, but failing to notice, as Raven and the others had, that it was not a window that had broken, but a skylight. As he looked back at the cage for a moment, Raven saw a burly shape stand up behind the villainous midget. Suddenly, a intense blue light flashed, and Gizmo fell flat onto his face, his technological backpack smoking and sparking. She thought she saw the flash of a grin and the glint of an eye, but then the shadow was gone. Adonis turned and ran to Gizmo, finding him unconscious. He spun back and screamed into the darkness.

"Well, what are you waiting for then?" yelled Adonis "Are you too much of a coward to come and face me?" That's when something happened that Raven didn't expect. A well-built, muscular young man, looking to be about Raven's age, stepped out of the shadows in front of Adonis. The first thing she noticed about him was how calm he was in such a frantic situation. He had his fingers in his pockets, with his thumbs protruding and hooking through his front belt loops. He looked as though he hadn't a care in the world. The second thing she noticed was his hair. While it was slightly long on the top, the sides and back were incredibly short, and it looks like it was combed back and to the side. Not to mention the fact that it was pure white. As he stood there nonchalantly eyeing the large mech in front of him, the Titan's heard him speak for the first time since he arrived, which was just a scant 30 seconds beforehand. A clear baritone voice filled the room.

"Now now, my loud, loquacious friend, that was a very unkind thing for you to say, especially when you are talking about someone so..." He paused as he made eye contact with Raven, "enchanting." She felt herself blush slightly at the compliment. "So now," rang out the baritone again, "you are going to get down on your knees, and apologize to her. Or else that suit will be gone in a few moments time, and you'll have them all to face without it." he gestured to the captured Titans.

Adonis roared back a challenge, "You think you can take me? I am a god compared to you, you puny little man!" The newcomer simply shifted his stance, taking his right hand out of his pocket and holding it behind him, and Raven thought she caught a glimpse of something sparkle. Adonis charged him, only to have the man charge right back, and before he knew it, he was on the ground, missing a mechanical leg and arm. The Titans collectively gasped as they saw this newcomer in the light of the moon. His right arm was clear and angular, as though made of crystal, with bands of metal encircling his wrist, forearm, biceps, and shoulder. It then proceeded the shift back into a normal arm. He looked up and Raven's eyes went to his and as their eyes met he showed an easygoing smile. She watched as he walked over to where Adonis was now groaning on the ground, and proceeded to put his foot on the villain's chest, and lean over to talk to him.

"Are you ready to stop acting like a child and apologize? Or do I need to persuade you further?" When Adonis didn't respond, the man proceeded to slam his extended fingers into the middle of the mech suit. Raven expected to hear bones crunch in the new guy's hands and arms from the force of the hit, but as she looked closer, it looked as if his arms were gleaming. And it turns out they were, because they had changed into living steel. She heard the squealing of metal being torn and watched as Adonis's suit was literally torn in half with nothing but a grunt from the man with the baritone voice. As the actual Adonis, puny, little, weak Adonis, tumbled out of the wreckage, he was picked up by the man, dusted off, and promptly chained to a support beam, where he groaned in pain. "Now that I've dealt with that nuisance," said the Titan's rescuer, "let's see what I can do about getting you all out of there." He walked towards the cage and reached out to grab the beams and bend them apart, but Beast Boy shouted at him to stop.

"Woah dude! Watch it! I tried to get through there and it zapped me halfway to fried chicken! Cy, what did Gizmo say it was?" he looked at the metal Titan expectantly.

Cyborg thought for a second, "He said it was a 'Highly volatile plasmic containment system'" he said, using air quotes. He then proceeded to think out-loud "Highly volatile, huh? That means it's high energy, with a high cyclic energy rate, so it's likely just an expanded plasma field with some extra voltage thrown in to discourage contact with the energy mesh itself, so if we can manage to drain the electricity from the field, then it should just be an iron cage."

"Well," mused the newcomer, "if thats the case, then I should be able to drain all the power myself." As he reached out for the cage again, it was Starfire this time that yelled at him to stop.

"But wait, newest-of-the-comers, would that not result in your untimely expiration?" That made him smile a little.

"Nah, I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve." With that, a bright blue light filled the room, the same one, Raven noticed, that had flashed throughout the warehouse when he had taken down Gizmo with one hit. As she looked back at her strange rescuer, her eye's widened as surprise filled her. His arms looked as though they were made from manifested lightning. She heard Nightwing mutter "What is this guy?" to himself as the he reached for the bars.

"I recommend you all close your eyes. This is probably going to be very bright." Raven closed her eyes as he had said, and she felt heat on her face, but the flash of light that followed still left her with spots in her vision. "And there we go!" Sighed the man as he reached for the bars again, but this time with normal arms. he touched one bar with a finger, and nothing happened, so he proceeded to grab two bars and strain against them. Raven saw out of the corner of her eye, Nightwing whispering something to Beast Boy and Beast Boy nodding back. When Raven refocused on the bars, it took her a second to realize that this new guy had bent two of them so far that they had snapped off, and he was currently bending another two when a green blur tore past Raven and slammed into his side. It was Beast Boy as a rhino. He slammed the guy down and changed into a gorilla, picking the man up and slinging him into a column, where he collapsed onto the ground with the breath knocked out of him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Raven, now!" yelled Nightwing, "Immobilize him!" She complied, wrapping each of his limbs in a tendril of black light and lifting him so he was spread-eagled in the air.

"Whoa whoa whoa! What the hell!" said the guy with incredulity. "I just helped you guys escape! Why are you holding me?"

Nightwing walked towards the new man and said "Because you just took out two of our oldest enemies in thirty seconds, without even taking a scratch. And because you appear to be some sort of metahuman, with powers unknown to us, so I'm sorry, but we are being cautious to ensure that you won't attack us just as you did Gizmo and Adonis."

That caused him to stop struggling against Raven's energized limbs and think for a moment. "Well, ok, that's an entirely understandable approach and I thank you for being so honest with me, but I can guarantee that I'm not going to attack you." Nightwing didn't seem to be budging. He looked straight at Raven, making and holding eye-contact. " Come on, obsidian-slinger. Let me down. I don't mean you guys any harm. Really." The nickname gave her pause, but after a moment she could sense his sincerity, releasing his bonds and letting him drop to the floor.

"Raven, what are you doing?" Nightwing questioned. She looked at the team leader with an answer on her tongue.

"I am an empath, Nightwing. I can tell that he's being sincere." she monotoned.

"Well," he said "I'm still not sure about him." He turned to him and stated "Get on your knees, hands behind your head." he pointed his taser at him.

"Alright, alright, I just want to make things easier. I'll answer any questions you might have." the guy said, as he lowered himself to his knees with an incredible ease of motion that Raven noticed Nightwing didn't even have. She took this chance to properly look him over. His outfit was fairly simply, consisting of faded, fitted blue jeans with motorcycle boots, a black undershirt and a blue-gray flannel with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Raven had to admit though, he definitely pulled off a certain look, and that look was

'Attractive' thought Raven to herself, 'Wait, hang on a second, when did you start noticing if a guy was attractive?' She thought about it and realized that he was the first person she had ever thought that about. She shook herself out of her reverie to continue observing him. As he tilted his head to examine the rest of the Titans, she noticed he also had a long, pale scar running from just above his right eye, and ending just above the right side of his mouth. While it wasn't very noticeable, in the right light it definitely showed up. Her visual examination was interrupted as Cyborg spoke out.

"Who are you?" asked Cyborg.

"Everyone I know calls me Shift. I'm guessing you can figure out why." he said with a small grin, "I have an actual name, but I would rather keep that closer to my chest until I know we can trust each other."

But Raven already felt she could already trust him, and that was a very strange feeling for her. It was the eyes, she realized. His eyes were a deep, dark blue that seemed to have infinite depth, and there were flecks of white that looked like stars in the night sky. They looked like eyes that someone could fall into and be swallowed up, and she wouldn't mind if that happened to her. 'No, no, that's not what you think. He's new, we don't know anything about him. He's a strange man. Treat him as such' she demanded of her emotions. She could already tell though that they weren't going to listen.

"Where do you come from?" questioned Nightwing.

"Seattle, Washington. Well, actually, just off of Puget Sound. Little town called Mercerton."

"Long way from home, aren't you?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yeah, well, not much left for me there, and I decided to move on. So I bought a plane ticket here."

"Why Jump City?"

"It's kind of a lame reason, but I wanted to see a properly big city. Seattle isn't much compared to this place." Shift said with laughter in his eyes.

"How old are you?" Nightwing interrogated.

"22. Born on the 7th of October, in the year of 1992."

'Same age as I am," Raven thought to herself 'Only a couple weeks older than me too.' she realized. Her curiosity and intrigue about Shift was slowly growing.

"Are you staying somewhere in the city or are you without a home?" asked Starfire.

"Oh, I'm staying with an old family friend. Another reason I came to Jump City. It was somewhere away from home that I knew I might have a place to crash for a little while."

"Who?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Shift asked, as if he had misheard.

Nightwing cleared his throat and restated, "Who are you staying with? Their name."

"Oh! Right! They live off of...what's the street name...closest junction is Harding Avenue and West 34th street. Tucker and Maude Stone." he said simply.

Starfire gasped and her hands went to her mouth as she looked over at Cyborg. Everyone else took a deep breath and looked over as well. He was standing there with his hands at his sides, looking flabbergasted.

"You mean, y….you are staying with my…my GRANDPARENTS?" Cyborg shouted, his voice a couple octaves higher than it normally was.

"What no! Wait….No way! Holy shit! Their grandson that they told me all about and how proud they were is part of the freaking TITANS?" Raven turned and looked at Shift, only to see him look as shocked and surprised as Cy was.

Cyborg started shaking his head,"That can't be true. That's not right. He's got to be lying. Hang on, let me call my Grandma." He stepped away and placed a finger to his ear as he placed the call.

"Raven," Nightwing said pointedly. She looked over at him. "Is he telling the truth? About it all. Not just about staying with Cy's grandparents."

"I'm telling the truth! Really! All of it! The Stone's are old family friends! Known them nearly my whole life. Now, granted, I haven't talked with them in a few years, but they still treat me like one of their own! Please, Raven, read me and tell them that I'm telling the truth." he said pleadingly, using her name for the first time.

Raven turned her full attention onto Shift as he kneeled on the ground. As she made eye contact with him, he gave her a look as though he perfectly understood everything that she had ever gone through. As though those things were over now, and he understood why she had done what she had done, and accepted her for it. She noticed he was looking up at her through hooded lids with such intensity that something stirred within her. She could sense a fire within him, that burned with the intensity of the sun, and just for a moment, she wanted to feel that heat. But she shook herself and returned to the task at hand. There was such earnestness in his words and in his eyes that she couldn't help but turn to the others. "I don't think he's lying. I'd be able to sense it if he were" she said in a her traditional controlled monotone, even though she felt anything but controlled. She felt him smile a relieved smile, and as she looked at him again, she saw his full smile for the first time. it seemed to bring light to the room. But there was something else there. a second layer. Something darker. She couldn't tell what it was yet, but she decided she was determined to find out. But in that grin were perfectly straight, white teeth. Completely normal. Except his canines. Whereas Beast Boy only had the one enlarged tooth, Shift seemed to have all 4 proportionally larger than the other teeth. And while she would think that would give one a predatory look, it seemed to fit perfectly into the easygoing attitude he had displayed thus far.

"He's not lying!" exclaimed Cyborg, who had apparently ended the call to his grandmother, and snapping Raven out her focus on this newcomer. "She said his father was an old friend of my grandfather's. Apparently, they used to work together in a laboratory for the government."

'Hmm, maybe that's how he got his powers. Governmental experimentation? Doesn't seem likely. Accident? Possibly.' Raven mused to herself. As she did this, her eyes found their way back to Shift's face and was shocked to find a single tear making its way down his cheek as he fought back against more. She didn't say anything but she knelt down in front of him and wiped the tear away as she looked into his eyes and saw the fire they possessed. She recognized that flame. It was the fire of survival. She saw it in his eyes and felt it in his aura as he spoke in a quiet, broken voice.

"Was. The key word there, Cyborg, is WAS." A second tear spilled down Shift's face unbidden as he shut his eyes and dropped his head to hide his tears from the Titans.

"What was that? I don't understand, Shift." Nightwing stated.

Raven answered for him, "I think that we should continue this conversation back at the Tower, where it's more…comforting, rather than a run-down old paper mill. I can warp us both back there and we will wait for you all there."

"Wait, Raven, I don't think we should take him back to the Tower until we know he is who he says he is!" interjected Nightwing.

"Oh come on, dude, give the man a break!" said Beast Boy, "The dude just saved our necks!"

Cyborg walked over to Shift saying, "The Green Bean has got a point, boss. He did save us from an otherwise very difficult night." At that, he offered a metallic hand to Shift, which he gladly accepted and stood up. The tears and sadness Raven had seen were gone, and she was surprised by how tall he was, as her head barely reached past his shoulders.

Cyborg held his hand out again, this time to shake. "Victor Stone. Cyborg."

Shift grinned his shining grin and took Cyborg's hand, "Malcolm Rooker. Shift. Nice to finally be introduced. Let me see here," He nodded at Nightwing, "Nightwing, formerly Robin, of Batman and Robin, team leader of the Titans, formerly the Teen Titans." Nightwing reached out and shook his hand warily.

Shift turned to Beast Boy, "Beast Boy, formerly Changeling, before that Beast Boy, right? Why the change? No pun intended."

Beast Boy chuckled and shook Malcolm's hand, saying "I felt like I needed to get back to my roots."

"Oh gotcha, that makes sense." He turned to Starfire and dropped to one knee with his head bowed, "Your majesty." This made Starfire beam and squeal with joy as she flew at him and swept him up into one of her bone-crushing hugs.

"Friend-Shift! It has been so long since anyone has called me that!" Raven saw him visibly wince as she thought she heard something crack, but when Starfire put him back down, he simply coughed and looked around, "Man, she's quite the hugger, isn't she?"

"Would you like another of the hugs?" inquired Starfire.

"No thanks, Princess. One for now is quite enough," he said, winking at her. Finally, he turned to face Raven, "So, you must be Raven then."

"That's me" she stated.

He held out his hand to shake, "Thanks for believing me."

Raven reached out and shook his large hand and was shocked by how gentle he was, and how feeling her hand in his caused that same stirring feeling she had felt earlier when they had made eye contact.

At that, Raven looked to Nightwing for approval and he nodded his head.

"I suppose he can come back to the Tower for the night. We just have to turn these two thugs in, and we'll meet you back there soon, ok?" he gestured to Adonis and Gizmo.

Raven nodded at Nightwing, then, stretching out her arm to Shift, to which he clasped her forearm in his hand and she grabbed his forearm. She then waved her hand and a dark portal opened beneath them, which they then proceeded to sink through, only to appear in the Tower Common Room. She glanced over at Shift, only to see him grinning from ear to ear. He noticed her staring at him, and just smiled wider.

"Quite the way to travel, isn't it?" he said, "So now what?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, what should we do now that we are back here? Are you gonna chuck me into a holding cell and leave me to rot?" he chuckled quietly.

"No, I think I'll let Nightwing do that when he gets here." she responded dryly.

Shift's eyes widened for a moment as though he believed her, and Raven almost began explaining that it was a joke, when suddenly he starting laughing. It was just a small chortle at first, but it quickly evolved into a full belly laugh that sounded so happy and joyous that it made Raven smile a little.

"Hahaha, I like your sense of humor. And its nice to see you smile. You and Nightwing are the only ones I haven't seen smile yet, but now that i've seen you smile…" he let the sentence trail off, piquing Raven's curiosity.

"Now that you've seen me smile what?" she asked.

"Do you remember what I said about you when I was talking to Adonis?"

"Yes," she mumbled as she felt her cheeks grow hot, "You said I was enchanting. Although I really don't see why, to be completely honest," she said quickly, "why do you ask?"

"Well, first off, you are incredibly enchanting, so best get used to being called it," he said with a wink, "And second, after you seeing you smile, the word 'enchanting' has entirely lost it's luster. I feel like you are more…captivating. I would love to see that smile some more." Shift grinned.

Raven's face kept getting hotter with each passing second, and then the realization hit her like a lightning bolt. He was FLIRTING with her! And it wasn't like when Beast Boy used to hit on her, or anyone else that had ever done it. It was charming, and well-worded, and the biggest difference of all was that she LIKED it! Inside her head, all her emotions were going absolutely nuts. Knowledge was freaking out trying to pull all the information she had on dating and flirting and their related subtexts. Happiness was just floating around sighing, and Sadness was actually not so sad this time. Affection was sitting in a chair in her room with her hands folded in front of her, grinning with a glint in her eye. Timid on the other hand was in an absolute state. She was constantly scared she was gonna say the wrong thing or look at Shift the wrong way.

All this internal mayhem resulted in Raven stammering out a whispered "Th..th..ank y..ou."

He inclined his head a little, "Trust me, it's my pleasure," he said with that hooded eyes look that made Raven stir in a way she didn't expect. "So!" he said, clapping his hands, "back to original question! What now?" he looked at Raven quizzically.

"How about a….a t…tour?" stuttered Raven. 'By the Gods' she thought to herself, 'Why didn't you handle that better? I just want to crawl into bed and die. You made yourself look like a total idiot in front of him.'

"Yeah sure! A tour sounds amazing." he said as he made eye contact and smiled wide, making her stomach turn over.


	4. Chapter 4

20 minutes and several rounds of lighthearted flirting from Shift and much blushing and stammering by Raven later, she had completed showing him around Titan Tower and they were back where they had started, in the Common Area. Which, coincidentally, was precisely the time the other Titan's returned as well. Raven breathed a silent sigh of relief that she would be able to retire to her room soon to mediate and discuss the night's events with her emotions in depth.

As the rest of the Titans filed into the room and placed themselves on the couch Nightwing nodded at Raven and then turned to Shift, crossing his arms as he did so.

"Now, I think it's time we heard your story, Shift." he said as he sat down.

Shift sighed, and continued to stand with his hands hanging loosely at his sides.

"Alright, but I'll warn you, it's a very short story. Almost to the point of boring. Well, most of it anyway. See, I was born and raised in Mercerton, with my mother, Stacy, my father, Eric, my older brother Mackenzie, and my younger sister Amber. I was three years younger than my brother, and two years older than my sister. We grew up together, obviously. Great home life. First 20 years of my life were completely normal. Boring, even. In a town of about 1700 people, not a whole lot went on. Everyone knew everyone, and what everyone did was the whole town's business. So it was no secret that my parents were government scientists, working from a state-of-the-art lab they built in our expanded basement."

"Who did they work for?" interrupted Nightwing.

"S.T.A.R. Labs. But, while they were an official subsidiary of the Seattle branch, which specializes in psionics, my parents research tended to lean more in the direction of the S.T.A.R. Lab in Los Angeles, which has a higher focus on genetics." he paused to take a breath, when Cyborg jumped in.

"That would explain how you know my grandparents then. My gramps used to work for S.T.A.R. back in the old days, before his eyesight started getting bad."

"Yeah, actually, my father says Tucker was the main reason he decided to pursue genetics. Anyway, I digress." As he continued on, Raven could not help but wonder as to what had caused Shift's small breakdown earlier when she had wiped away his tears, but she got the feeling she would soon find out. "So, after I graduated high school, I started helping my folks out in the lab. Not a lot of stuff, just mainly heavy lifting, a bit of genetic re-sequencing here and there." he paused and took a deep breath, and Raven could tell that what was about to come out was going to hurt him. "Then, one day, my whole family was in the lab to celebrate a new piece of tech having finally been installed after weeks of my parents pushing for it. It was a full-body DNA re-sequencer and molecular realignment system. Essentially, what this equipment allowed you to do was to place a person or animal or material into it, and you could pick and choose which DNA to recombine or shift around, or which molecules to change, and it would change every strand, or every molecule, by means of a sustained anti-polaron burst. Now, we had been testing it for a few minutes on minerals and things, like we did the classic alchemy trick and we were able to turn lead into gold by simply realigning the recombinant molecules. Then, when I opened the case to pick up the gold bar we had just made, I turned and faltered. I fell back into the device, and it locked me in. At the same time that that had been happening, my," his voice broke and a solitary tear coursed its way down his face, following the line of his scar almost perfectly. Raven wanted nothing more than to get up and wipe it away, but she realized hat he needed to finish the story or else he might never be able to tell it again because of the grief that it caused him. She listened as he continued on, "Mackenzie spilled a cup of coffee on the control array for a separate system, which caused a short in the wiring that they weren't aware of. And that short released an amount of noxious, and explosive, fumes. My sister was the first to pass out. Within seconds, they had all collapsed. I, on the other hand, being sealed inside the device, had to watch as my family was slowly suffocating." The tears were coming much more freely now, but his voice carried steely resolve. "But that wasn't the only problem. You see, when my father passed out, he fell directly onto the command console for the device I was in, and it was set to constantly recombine DNA and realign molecules. I could….I could hear the device powering up, like the whine of a trillion mosquitos. Then," he shook his head, "I heard nothing. Then the pain started. It felt first as an itch. All over my body. But then it grew until I could barely stand. By the end of it, it felt as though everything in my body was being crushed and blown outward and burned and frozen and torn and shredded, all at the same time. I eventually passed out, but I don't know how long the device continued to…change me. Long enough…..long enough for...," he took a stuttered breath, chuckled and smiled as the tears coursed down his face,"Whoo, this is hard."

Raven, being the closest to him along the couch, caught his attention by murmuring, "I know it must be, but you are doing amazing, Malcolm. You just have to hold on for a little bit longer. You can do it. Trust me." and she smiled a small, sad smile at him. And as he looked at her smile, he seemed to gain back his strength and cleared his throat to continue with his tale of woe.

"I was in the chamber long enough for the gases to accumulate and pool in the laboratory. That was when the console shorted again, sparking them." An even more hushed silence fell over the Common Area as the Titan's realized what that meant.

"You mean," Beast Boy said with trepidation, "Your family's lab exploded? While you were all inside?" Shift wiped the tears off his face with one hand and nodded without speaking. "No survivors?" he asked hesitantly.

Shift shook his head, but then paused and looked up. "Well, there was one. You're looking at him." Beast Boy's eye's widened considerably.

"How in the hell did you survive that?"

"I really don't know. All I do know, is that the blast was enough to completely destroy the foundations of my home. I don't remember clawing my way out, but I'm guessing the explosion is what gave me this" he stopped to trace the line of the scar on his face, as though it still seemed foreign to him. Then he reached up and ran his hand through his hair, saying, "I didn't haven any hair because it all got burned off by the fire and the explosion, but when it grew back, it came back this color. Thing is, my hair used to be black. The paramedics said that they hadn't seen anything like it before, even in a world as strange as ours. Apparently, when they arrived, I was on my knees in front of what used to be my home, and I was…I was on fire. I wasn't burnt, but I was burning. And when..," he paused to steel himself as fresh tears fell, and Raven heard the raw pain in his tone, "and when they asked me if there was anyone else in the house, I just looked at them, shook my head, the fire went out, and I passed out."

"The fire." said NIghtwing.

Shift looked at him, "What about it?" Raven could hear the confusion in his tone.

"Why didn't you burn like your family?"

Raven felt herself let out a small gasp as she looked at Nightwing sharply while the rest of the Titan's looked on in surprise as well. There was something about this guy that was bothering Nightwing, and he wasn't keeping it hidden very well. The pain and anguish that Raven felt come from Shift was almost enough to make her want to cry. She heard him sniff quietly, once or twice, then that was it. She looked back over at him and she saw that he had his head down, with his hands at his sides in fists. As she looked closer, she could see that he was shaking. Shift's eyes slowly lifted and he looked at Nightwing with nothing but suffering in his eyes and anguish in his voice as he slowly spoke, each word harshly enunciated.

"I Wish That I HAD." he ground out. "I wish that I hadn't had to watch my family suffer and die in one of the most horrible ways possible. I wish that I hadn't had to hear my baby sister, who I helped teach how to WALK, I wish I didn't have to hear her choking and watch her fall." Raven noticed that Shift was slowly getting louder with each passing moment, to the point where he was yelling. "I wish I didn't see the pain in my brother's eyes, my best friend's eyes, as he realized what he had done. I wish I hadn't seen my parents reach for each other, just before the explosion, and I wish that I hadn't SURVIVED TO KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE WITHOUT YOUR FAMILY!" he bellowed at Nightwing. That last yell seemed to take the strength out of Shift, and he collapsed to his knees. Raven had taken this for long enough, and she went to Shift and kneeled next to him, putting her hand on his shoulder, ready to comfort him however she could. She didn't know why her emotions were making her feel like this, but she knew that Malcolm needed someone right now, and for whatever reason, her and her emotions decided that it would be her. She watched as more tears fell unhindered to the floor of the Common Room, then decided to act. She lifted her hand and placed it on Shift's cheek, pulling slightly so that he would look her in the eye. He seemed to take a lot longer than he had before to make eye contact with her, his eyes roaming the room, trying to find anything to look at other than her. He finally brought his eyes to hers, blue to violet, and she moved her thumb, wiping the tears on one side of his face away, while he continued to look at her in that way that made her feel like he understood everything, and she tried to look back at him the same way. She could see that she had somewhat succeeded, as his breathing starting evening out.

Raven saw a blue-black glove appear in front of Shift's face, and as they both looked up, Nightwing was standing there, holding his hand out to help him to his feet. But Raven noticed something off about Nightwing. Something didn't look right. 'Wait,' Raven thought, 'I can see his eyes! He's not wearing his mask. But he always wears his mask. Why would he take it off, now of all times?' she wondered as she straightened up, watching Nightwing help Shift to his feet. They stood there for a moment, with their hands clasped still, when Nightwing shook it twice,

"Dick Grayson. My family died in front of me too." he said ruefully. Shift could not look more surprised. Raven actually almost giggled at the sight of his face. His mouth was hanging open, and his eyes held what looked like…..newfound trust, almost? Maybe respect? As though Nightwing treating him like that and then flipping it around made it more sincere? Raven was very confused, but she was glad that Shift was feeling a little bit better and that Nightwing was actually being nice. Shift took a moment to gather himself before he responded, slightly hoarsely.

"Malcolm Rooker, you know my story now. And now you know that I'm just a freak."

"Hey, I've told this to Raven before. I'm half robot, he's green, and she's an alien princess," Cyborg interrupted from the couch, gesturing to those on either side of him. "We are all freaks. But we have each other."

Nightwing nodded, "Yes I do know your story. And knowing it, I'd like to make you an offer."

Shift looked at him with suspicion in his eyes. "What sort of offer?

NIghtwing, no, Dick, smiled for the first time that night. "I'd like for you to join the Titans."


	5. Chapter 5

Nightwing took a moment to appreciate the look of shock on Shift's face as he asked him to join the Titan's.

"For real? Like, actually join you guys? Live-in-the-tower kind of join?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes, for real. But, if you accept, there will be a probationary period where you will be trained."

"Trained how?"

"Like, for example, you'll be learning about our rules and regulations, our fighting styles so you can learn to better integrate yourself into the group when we are patrolling or taking on something all together. Speaking of patrolling, you'll be accompanied by another member of the Titan's while you patrol for the first few months, then when you've shown aptitude, you'll be able to go out on your own. Now, you are required to attend our morning training sessions, which happen three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, along with an extra training day on Saturday that is optional." Nightwing stated. "I have a few more logistical things to get settled with you, along with some paperwork you'll need to fill out, so we can do that now if you want, or we could do that tomorrow after you've had some sleep. Which would you prefer?"

"Uhh," Shift chuckled, "I don't know. Man, I still can't believe you are asking me to join! My head feels like it's spinning I'm so excited! So, since I'm awake, I guess I'll do all that stuff now and just get it taken care of."

"Alright. Sounds like a good plan." he held out his hand for Shift to shake, and was surprised when he took it eagerly, shaking it vigorously. "Welcome to the Titans, Malcolm." He watched as Shift grinned and then turned to the rest of them. "Alright guys and girls. It's been a long night with a lot of stress, but we did good. I'll see you all tomorrow. Shift, If you'd follow me please." He started to walk towards the door of the Common Area, and he noticed that the rest of the Titans had begun standing up as well to head their separate ways. "Just so you know," he said as they walked towards Nightwing's office, "you won't actually be able to go out with us at all for a few days. A week at the most." Shift looked at him questioningly. "I just have to run a thorough background check. Just making sure it all checks out."

"Oh, of course, I totally understand. I just want to say, Nightwing, that I couldn't be more grateful for this. I'm really looking forward to having some purpose in my life again." Nightwing looked over at him to see him grinning that easygoing smile that seemed to be his hallmark expression.

"Hey," Nightwing responded, "Don't thank me till you've been thrown through a few walls by Mammoth, or hexed by Jinx. If you are still having a good time then, then you can thank me."

"I'll be sure to let you know" Shift chuckled in response.

—

Raven watched as Nightwing and Shift walked out of the room towards NIghtwing's office. She heard Cyborg get up and walk over to the fridge and open it, bending over to look to what was inside.

"So what do you guys think of him?" he asked, his voice slightly muffled by the fridge.

"Oh, Cy! Grab me a beer, if you could. But yeah, dude seems pretty cool. Got a couple problems, but hey, he watched his family die. I'd have problems too, man." responded Beast Boy.

Starfire went next, saying, "I like Friend-Shift. He is nice, and he seems quite humble as well, which is a good thing for people to be. Not to mention," she giggled, "he is quite attractive." Raven's eyes snapped over to Starfire, and strangely enough, she was looking right back at her, as though Star could read her mind and her emotions. "Don't you think so, Friend-Raven?" The rest of the Titan's eyes turned over to her, as though waiting for her to answer. She could feel her face getting more and more crimson, and her ears felt like they were on fire.

"I..I mean…yes, I guess he's att…attractive in a, in a, clean cute, I mean clean CUT sort of way." she stammered and stuttered as she watched Starfire's grin grow wider and wider. 'Why did I admit that? Now she's going to pester me for eternity. Yes, I'll admit, he's attractive, and his style is perfect, with the hair and the boots and the…..oh no. No no no no, this cannot be happening. Do I have a crush on him! I think I have a crush on Shift! I have only known him for a few hours! What am I going to do?' Before anyone could say anything else, she threw out a sentence, almost yelling at her teammates, "Shouldn't you guys all be heading to bed? It's getting pretty late." she monotoned loudly.

Cyborg looked over at Beast Boy, shrugged, and said, "Yeah, I guess you are right, it is getting late. *yawn* Or I guess at this point, it would be early. Come on Green Bean, let's hit it."

"Right behind you, Sparky." Beast Boy replied as they walked out. "Night guys!"

Starfire floated over to Raven and looked at her with mischief in her eyes as she said, "Actually, Friend-Raven, I was hoping to discuss with you tonight's events regarding Friend-Shi…"

"Look, Starfire, you are my best friend, and I'd love to talk to you about it, but I really need to meditate, and I think I want to do it here, so please, just leave it be for now. For me?" Raven pleaded with her.

"Fine, Friend-Raven. But I want you to know, if you are needing of the Friend-Who-Is-A-Girl Advice, you know where I rest my head. I will see you in the morning." She looked slightly put out as she floated out of the doors towards her bedroom she shared with Dick. How long had they been a thing for, her and Nightwing? Raven had a hard time remembering. A couple years now, she thought. She let the thought slip from her mind as she sat down on the floor and began to chant her mantra, trying to find her center for a little while before Shift came back. She did't know why she was waiting for him, she just felt she should.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello dearest readers.

I am so sorry for not having updated sooner. I fully intend to continue this story soon. Hopefully within the next few days. The holiday's started very early for me, and they carried me away. I have woken from my literary slumber, and shall continue. Look forward to some more content post-haste! Thanks for sticking with me.

AA


	7. Chapter 7

About an hour or so after the others went off to bed, Malcolm came walking back from Nightwing's office with a huge grin plastered on his face. When he saw Raven waiting for him, his grin just grew even more.

"I cannot believe that you guys are giving me the chance to be one of you! This is so surreal." he said excitedly. "But Nightwing did mention that before I was allowed to 'officially' join you guys I would have to train and be caught up on everything, but that totally makes sense. Oh, and I'll probably need a uniform too, huh. Well crap. I honestly have no idea where to begin shopping for an outfit like all of your guys'. And then I'll have to start moving my gear here into the tower, and then…" Raven listened to him as he listed off all these things that he needed to do within the next few weeks and she could tell he was beginning to stress over them, so she reached out her hand, set it on his shoulder, and looked into those curious eyes of his. That quieted him down instantly.

"Malcolm," she intoned, "all that can wait. It's been a long and arduous night for you, to say the least."

"Yeah, yeah it has been. I guess you are right. Oh damn.."

"What is it?" Raven asked.

"In all the excitement, I totally forgot to ask Dick where I should park my gear for the night. Well," he said as he patted the sofa, "this guy looks pretty comfy, so I guess I could just sleep here."

Raven quickly replied, saying, "Don't be ridiculous. You are a Titan now. We might as well find you a room. There's an unused one next to my quarters that has the basic amenities. Would that do?"

Shift looked shocked for a moment but quickly recovered and grinned at her. "Next to yours? Sure, that'd be perfect. Maybe I'll get to see you smile some more," he said with a wink. Raven was incredibly glad for the semi-darkness of the room as well as her hood, because she turned beet-red. "I..I…." she stammered "I could lead you there now if you like…"

"Sounds great, I'll follow you." he said, grinning. Raven headed out of the common room down one of the hallways, around a corner and down another hallway. She looked back once or twice to see Shift following her, looking around the halls with excitement. She couldn't help but smile a little bit at his wondrous smile. Then he caught her looking at him and his grin grew even wider, while Raven turned that particular shade of red again and turned her head quickly to kept striding onwards. They arrived at Raven's door and passed by, continuing on about 20 feet, and then there was the next room.

"Here, I hope this is satisfactory," she said as she activated the door. Shift stepped inside and then Raven flipped on the lights. His eyes and his grin got wider and wider as he looked around the room.

"This place is mine?"

"Yes, is it alright?" Raven asked him. She hadn't realized how fast he was, as he was suddenly right back next to her, expressing with his hands.

"Are you kidding? This is amazing! Where else can I do what I feel like I am meant to do and get a view like this?" he gushed. "I mean it though, this is perfect! I can't wait to make it my own." He smiled at her with such genuine happiness that she could practically hear all her emotions sighing.

"Well, with that I'll bid you goodnight Malcolm. I'll be next door if you need anything, alright? Just knock." She turned to go.

"Wait, hang on a sec Raven." She looked back and there he was again, not a foot away from her, staring intently into her eyes. From this distance she could see all the small details she had't noticed before. She could see the very small beginnings of laugh lines in the corners of both his eyes and his mouth. She could see his eyelashes and how they were two colors. the edge closer to his eyes were black, but the outer edges were white. Like they couldn't pick which they wanted to be. Then she could finally look into those eyes. Those strange, terrifying, wonderful eyes. They were such a dark blue, like the water of the deepest oceans had been distilled into his eyes. She saw those flecks again and she couldn't help but think of the stars in the sky. That was when she had noticed that Shift had been talking for about 5 seconds. She focused back in and heard that low baritone that sank into her bones and she felt in her soul.

"…and I just wanted to thank you for believing me and for everything else." he said strongly.

Raven shook herself and replied quickly "Of course, Malcolm. You needed someone, and I presume it was me."

"I couldn't have asked for anyone better. So from the bottom of my very damaged heart and soul," Shift reached down, grasped her hand gently and held it to his chest, "Thank you, Raven. I am forever in your debt." That's when she felt it. The strong thud of his heart against his ribcage, as though it wanted to jump into her hand.


End file.
